'Green Visa' holders will be able to work in the country without company sponsorship and can sponsor their parents and children up to 25 years old.
The United Arab Emirates has announced a new 'Green Visa' scheme for foreign workers. The purpose of this is to ease the restrictions faced by foreigners in pursuing employment opportunities in the country. The 'Green Visa' will allow foreigners to work in the country without the need for sponsorship by an employer.
Till now, anyone who came to this oil-rich country was generally given limited visas tied to their employment and long-term residency was very difficult to obtain. The new visa scheme eases the residency requirements in an attempt to boost the economy.
Holders of the new 'Green Visa' will be able to work in the country without company sponsorship, and can sponsor their parents and children up to 25 years old, officials said. Other Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have recently opened up their countries to wealthy investors. Reforms have been made to their paid permanent residency programs and property ownership rules.
But what was the need to introduce the 'Green Visa' when UAE already has a golden visa scheme, launched in 2019? Golden visa scheme is issued for 5 or 10 years to high-net-worth individuals, who bring large investments into UAE. The 'Green Visa' targets highly skilled individuals, investors, business people, entrepreneurs, as well as exceptional students and postgraduates, a media report said.
How is 'Green Visa' different
Holders of 'Green Visa' will be allowed to work in the UAE without being sponsored by an employer.
Earlier, it required a prospective worker to be sponsored via an employer who had to apply for a work permit from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
The 'Green Visa' enables visa holders to sponsor their parents.
It will increase the cap on the age of children who can be sponsored by the holder from 18 to 25 years.
The new scheme will also allow the holder a grace period of up to three months to look for a new job if they lose their old one.
Under the previous policy, a worker had only 30 days to leave the country if he lost his job.
Reasons behind 'Green Visa' scheme
The 'Green Visa' move by the UAE is to attract the right talent pool to their already burgeoning economy.
This comes as a part of a wider array of measures introduced by the Arab world to boost the economy and reduce reliance on oil.
The focus is now increasingly shifting from oil to Artificial intelligence, coding, space research, academic excellence.
UAE is trying to compete with regional economic rival Saudi Arabia who recently announced reforms aimed at upping its status as an industrial hub.
Foreigners account for 90% of the 10 million population in the UAE so it is taking big strides to shape up its human resource.
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 "UAE starting 'Green Visa' scheme")
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